Trump giving Putin the green light for 'torture, mass murder, and rape': Yale historian

If Trump returns to D.C to once again lead the free world, he could shatter longstanding treaties and disrupt peace, warned Yale Prof. Timothy Snyder on Monday evening.

"I think the worst of it might be do whatever the hell you want," he said while appearing on MSNBC's "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell. "Because the whole point of a mutual defense treaty is to assure your allies that you will be there for them, not to invite a potential aggressor to attack."

On Saturday Donald Trump, who continues leading UN Ambassador Nikki Haley to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, claimed he would allow Russia to run rip-shod over any NATO member nation that is “delinquent” in paying 2 percent of their gross domestic product to defense.

“‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’” Trump he told a crowd during a rally in South Carolina. “‘No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.’”

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Snyder, who previously said Vladimir Putin is pulling for a Trump win because he shows our "system is rotten", thinks Trump isn't waxing tough talk.

"In Russia's case, whatever the hell you want includes the destruction of cities, torture, mass murder, and rape," said Snyder, in an apparent reference to Russia's actions in Ukraine.

"Right now when we talk about these abstractions, like how much is 2 percent of GDP, right now, the Ukrainians are paying a real price in a real war," said Snyder. "There are men and women being killed right now as we speak, absorbing a full-scale Russian attack, doing everything that NATO was supposed to be doing."

Currently, aid intended to support Ukraine on the battlefield is being opposed by a small faction of GOP Congress members despite Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) advising of the negative consequences of abandoning longtime US allies in Europe.

For Snyder, Trump's rhetoric distracts from the crisis that's raging on many NATO countries' doorsteps.

"The reason we are not doing a thing is because he and his allies in Congress are stopping us from doing something," he concluded. "That's the reality."

Watch the video below or at this link.